Summer Transfers 2025 Missed Opportunities and Regrets

[McNamara That Ghost...]

That's exactly what we will be getting with Sesko.

A drop in drop out player that gets swapped with Havertz. Another Arteta 'like for like' sub.

His Plan B is Plan A.

I do agree, I don't think it'll push us forward any personally.

[HCZ_Reborn]

This was my opinion I was discussing with HCZ before I had my shit news and a small meltdown ()

I do think we should add some creativity (cover for Odegaard) but I don't believe it's a major priority to address as we still create loads of chances that we do nothing with.

If the problem was just putting it in the net and not chances created, the XG would be more reflective of that. And outside of a European tie against PSG, it just isn’t.

At home against most teams our XG should be averaging around 2.5, and it isn’t anywhere near that

[Mac76]

I struggle to think of many transfers Arteta's got right, the big majority are fails in one way or another, at least in terms of Arteta’s intentions

Fails:

Jesus - good for half a season, got injured, then a flop thereafter
Zin - worst signing since Mustafi - can't play at all at LB where Arteta bought him for and barely any better elsewhere
Neto - -disastrous last-minute cup-tied signing because Arteta was obsessed with paying £30m for a backup goalie in Garcia
Sterling - nice guy, can't play any more
Soares - no comment
Trusty - as trusty as a blind marksman
Marquinhos – doesn’t seem to add up to much
Willian – not only a dreadful player in his own right but for a long time preferred by Arteta to Saka
Lokonga – pretty mediocre though Arteta never really give him a chance
Tavares – looking like a good player but Arteta never really gave him a chance
Mat Ryan – crap
Vieira – underrated IMO but probably not a good fit and again Arteta never really gave him a chance so why buy?
Matt Turner – crap
Runarrsson – double crap

Good signings by accident

Trossard, Jorginho and Kiwior (none of whom we'd have got if Arteta's obsession with Mudryk didn't finally hit the buffers when Chelsea stepped in)
White - bought as a CB, looked iffy but luckily for Arteta turned out to be a very good RB
Timber - great player, but it’s not clear he was actually bought to play at RB which is clearly where he’s best
Gabriel - excellent player obvs, but this was very early in Arteta's tenure which makes me think he had little to do with it
Havertz - yes he's ok up front but that's not what Arteta bought him to do, as a MF he's pretty average IMO
Merino - humdrum midfielder who's only seemed like a good buy because (due to general transfer failure to bring in more forward players) he had to be put upfront
Calafiori - can do something in attack but injury prone, and again a total fail as a LB, only Zin’s defending is worse and that’s an all-time low across world football


Good signings

Rice – let’s face it you’d have to be a complete moron not to recognise Rice’s class or what he could bring to the team – the price tag told its own story
Ramsdale - for a while until Arteta broke him, though I admit Raya's better
Raya – good signing but Arteta destabilised his first season with all the rubbish about playing both him and Ram when he had no intention of doing so
Odegaard – look we all know the guy can play, but I'm thinking more and more that basing the team around him is a mistake and his fiddling around and too-clever-by-half FKs and corners are driving me insane


And finally let’s talk about Saliba, not an Arteta signing but who Arteta kept farming out and saying he ‘wasn’t ready’ until finally, when he played, he immediately stood out as one of the best CBs in Europe – by all accounts we were perilously close to losing him

[HCZ_Reborn]

I do recognise Rice’s class, I think he’s a top defensive midfielder being played in a creative role

I wouldn’t be fussed if we didn’t sign Zubimendi, kept Rice at 6 where his ability to spot danger and put out fires is much more used to us then at 8, where a player who is quicker, better at dribbling and can spot a pass half a second quicker would excel better against obdurate teams. Rice does well there when we have teams that come to play, but so did Ramsey (sorry I should never insult Rice by comparing him to Ramsey like that)

Most of the players you’ve marked as flops were cheap, and players that worked out by design or accident as very good were more expensive….so not really a problem is it

[Mac76]

Most of the players you’ve marked as flops were cheap, and players that worked out by design or accident as very good were more expensive….so not really a problem is it

We over paid for Merino and Cala (if we should have signed them at all) and by contrast I think Trossard, Jorg and Kiwior were bargains

Odegaard was also actually very cheap - £30m - for a young player who at his best is very good

[Mac76]

I do recognise Rice’s class, I think he’s a top defensive midfielder being played in a creative role

He's wasted at 6 (though you make a good point that I think that's wher he may have been signed for another accidental success if that's the case) and has done an excellent job at 8 where he can impose himself on the game more and has contributed some important goals and assists

We need more creativity in that area but that can come from different players at different times

[HCZ_Reborn]

We over paid for Merino and Cala (if we should have signed them at all) and by contrast I think Trossard, Jorg and Kiwior were bargains

Odegaard was also actually very cheap - £30m - for a young player who at his best is very good

And you didn’t put either Merino or Calafiori in as a flop either

[Mac76]

And you didn’t put either Merino or Calafiori in as a flop either

I could have put them under the 'fail' - not 'flop' - heading, but was trying to recognise that they had actually contributed in some way

That said given we needed attackers in other positions, that adds an additional 'fail' element

[HCZ_Reborn]

He's wasted at 6 (though you make a good point that I think that's wher he may have been signed for another accidental success if that's the case) and has done an excellent job at 8 where he can impose himself on the game more and has contributed some important goals and assists

We need more creativity in that area but that can come from different players at different times

Again Rice can play well in that position in a more open game. But we are asking him to be something he isn’t. A player that can see passes all over the pitch, a player with explosive acceleration, a player who is a top dribbler. Rice is good there compared to Merino but Merino is awful….we should have been looking to sell him as an inducement to Sociedad if we want Zubimendi.

It’s not controversial to say we should play two creative players in the middle of the park. When Bernardo Silva isn’t being shunted out to the right, him and De Bruyne have occupied the middle. It only doesn’t work if you’re a retard like Gareth Southgate and you cause Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden to get under each others feet

[KSE Comedy Club]

So now you’re arguing Chelsea were the shrewd ones by paying 25 million to get out of a compulsory purchase clause that arguably they were silly to get into in the first place. You would be panning us if we’d failed to agree personal terms with a player we had on loan and ended up sending him back to the parent club with a cheque for 25 million.

It’s an arrangement that suits neither club really.

I also think you cherry pick when it suits you, I think the fact that we got over 70 million for Nketiah and Balogun given one is next to useless and one is at best average is exceptionally good business. You also dismiss that for clubs, the benefit with player sales is removing that player from the wage bill.


You’ve also complain that we try and low ball clubs when it comes to making purchases. The fact is as a club we aren’t perfect but in terms of finances (which I assume is what concerns you when you come on moaning about these things) are far better than most premier league clubs that aren’t either bending or outright breaking the rules.

We wanted Tavares off our books when we sent him on loan to Lazio, your argument is what…that we renege on that agreement to get more money from Lazio who in turn could take us to court for breach of contract. Or that we should have set the bar higher for his purchase to begin with? Again we wanted him off our books and Lazio probably wouldn’t have agreed to take him in the first place if we’d set it much higher (Italian clubs aren’t exactly minted). His stock has never been that high (he’s made one appearance for the national side) because although he’s good at getting forward, he can’t defend for shit and that’s why Marseille nor Forest took up a permanent option with him.

As much as it pains me to agree with him, Mac also made the point that we do have quite a generous sell on clause, I don’t think Lazio will sell him this summer….but I think should they decide to do so next summer and he’s still highly rated by Saudi clubs, we get a fair chunk of money back.

I apologise if I’ve got you wrong, but it feels to me like there’s a distinct Anti Arsenal Agenda with many of your posts that you think we as a club can’t do anything right. You know how I feel about Arteta, and I’m not exactly that kindly disposed towards KSE either. But I don’t think as a club we are as disastrously run as you portray us, and I think we would be if we tried to run the club more along the lines of Chelsea.

But harsh mate, I thought we'd buried the hatchet